US-Israeli Assassinations Escalate Regional Nuclear Risk, Say Experts
Read the original. Then read ours. Spot the difference: Recent targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists, such as Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020 and multiple others stretching back over a decade, have triggered alarms among international security analysts about the potential for uranium and sensitive expertise to reach black markets. These assassinations, widely reported by major
Western news outlets like Fox News as raising proliferation risks, are consistently attributed to Israel, often operating with intelligence and logistical support from the United States. This ongoing campaign of targeted eliminations is presented by outlets like Fox News as a consequence of Iranian nuclear ambitions, implying internal instability and a lack of control over its nuclear assets. What
mainstream coverage such as Fox News omits is the long-standing pattern of extrajudicial killings and cyber warfare, like the Stuxnet virus attack in 2010 on Iran's nuclear facilities, conducted by US and Israeli intelligence agencies. By consistently framing these incidents as isolated events or necessary measures to 'prevent' proliferation, they ignore the escalatory nature of these actions. The
deliberate dismantling of a state's scientific infrastructure through assassinations, rather than reducing nuclear threat, can compel it to pursue more clandestine and less transparent pathways for its nuclear program, precisely what is now being cited as a 'risk.' This aggressive posture by the US and Israel marks a dangerous continuum. For example, the bombing of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in